eBay

i*m-still-here · ‎10-19-2013

I bought an item for $600 and it didn't arrive. It was shipped with tracking of sorts and showed as being lost at the border.

Very Odd.

The seller made me wait 45 days for a refund but about a weak ago she refunded and I completed the insurance form.

She must have received her refund a few days ago.

I just saw that the item is listed again under a different seller's name.

This 100% guaranteed the same item.

No doubt.

Man............ what a scam.

I called shipsurance but it's Saturday and still early in California.

I wonder if they can recover their money?

i*m-still-here · ‎10-19-2013

Ok....... this is really weird.

My seller is in the States and the item is listed for a sale by a seller in Canada.

How did it reach an eBay seller in Ontario?

There's no doubt it's my item, but somewhere along the line someone ripped someone off.................

I just can't figure out who did that and how.

It was shipped with tracking and the tracking showed that the item was lost in Quebec at the border.

I filed the insurance form on the 17th, and today it's listed for sale by a seller in Ontario.

Any ideas?

i*m-still-here · ‎10-19-2013

I'd really be interested to hear if anyone has any ideas on how that happened.

I can't figure it out..

i*m-still-here · ‎10-19-2013

Just got off the phone with the seller. At first I thought she was in on it, but she's not. She doesn't even have her check yet.

We are both 100% agreed it's her item.

Different pictures of the same item, but the new seller lifted her description word for word.

Either........ It was delivered to the wrong address in Canada with a postal code and location which aren't even remotely similar to mine............... AND it just happened to end up with an eBay seller .............AND the tracking showed it was lost at customs in Montreal..........

Or someone at the PO ripped it off.

Not sure yet.

Hoping shipsurance will launch an investigation on Monday. I'm thinking that for $600 they will.

Too bad everything is closed until Monday.

dipmicro · ‎10-19-2013

I would talk to police first what should be my steps if I recognized my item for sale, that I received money back from original seller, however I would prefer to have the item instead of money.

Don't be surprised if cops advice to try to resolve this yourself before pressing formal charges first, for several reasons: 1) investigation may take long and your item will be sitting at the police station as evidence. 2) the current seller may also be a victim and when police confiscates stolen item from him but does not prove his participation on the theft, he will still be left dry nonetheless. So perhaps the easiest and fastest would be to tell the current seller you are the owner of this item and offer him to buy it back with your refund.

And don't think for a minute insurance company is a victim here, don't try to be police detective or asset recovery agent for them, they are in business of calculated risk and this is a business event for them, nothing more.

i*m-still-here · ‎10-19-2013

I've received my refund but I wanted the item very much.

The seller has a check on the way from shipsurance.

I contacted shipsurance too quickly I think maybe could be .......... perhaps.......... but I'll call them first thing Monday morning to make sure they don't stop the seller's check.

We're both victims.

I'm bidding on the new listing and if no one does anything I'll probably win it if it doesn't get pulled first.

You're right though. The insurance company isn't the victim. They rightfully sent the seller a check......... but she hasn't cashed it yet so I'm a little worried for her.

BUt........ they might want to launch an investigation into the PO.

i*m-still-here · ‎10-19-2013

The current seller could have it on consignment.

i*m-still-here · ‎10-19-2013

@dipmicro wrote:

Don't be surprised if cops advice to try to resolve this yourself before pressing formal charges first, for several reasons:

................. So perhaps the easiest and fastest would be to tell the current seller you are the owner of this item and offer him to buy it back with your refund.

dip.......... who would I charge?

Also......... I've thought of contacting the current seller about a BIN because I'd love to buy the item.............. but I can't predict how that would go.

I don't know what happened and I'm only trying to piece it together........... but how does an item shipped from the States with tracking disappear at customs and show up in an another Canadian's listings like that?

marnotom! · ‎10-19-2013

@i*m-still-here wrote:

I don't know what happened and I'm only trying to piece it together........... but how does an item shipped from the States with tracking disappear at customs and show up in an another Canadian's listings like that?

You mentioned in your first post that the item "was shipped with tracking of sorts". Can you elaborate on that? What do you mean by "tracking of sorts"? What shipping method was used?

i*m-still-here · ‎10-20-2013

I called eBay and they are in agreement that it's the same item. There are marks on it which are like fingerprints and they are clearly pictured in both seller's photos. They've done nothing about it and I don't believe they will........ and could if they wanted to.

I called my local police, and they told me to call the police in the city where it's listed.

I called the police in the city where it's listed and they told me to call my local police.

Tomorrow I'll call the PO and odds are they'll tell me to call the police.

I fully understand that there is nothing anyone can do about it.

I emailed the seller who told me that he bought the item at an auction and he is not at all concerned that he's dealing with a stolen item. .............. Can't say I blame him either.

The item was shipped with tracking (registered mail) from the States to Canada, and the tracking stopped at Montreal at the custom's hub. Then, 52 days later is shows up as an eBay item.

How does that happen?

I may as well do my best to win it again.

Anyway........ the point is: When it comes to the on line theft of items getting shippped all over the world ........... I already knew there was nothing to be done about it, but seeing it in action was interesting and only verified what I already knew.

marnotom! · ‎10-20-2013

@i*m-still-here wrote:

The item was shipped with tracking (registered mail) from the States to Canada, and the tracking stopped at Montreal at the custom's hub. Then, 52 days later is shows up as an eBay item.

How does that happen?

If the item were registered, then it must have been sent by First Class International which now seems to have fairly reliable tracking provided that the postage is purchased online rather than at the post office. International registered mail is not really regarded as having reliable "tracking" outside of the country of origin and many postal services don't give international registered mail more secure handling anyway.

So, depending on how the postage was purchased, the item may well have gone into the ether after being scanned in St. Laurent, or else the tracking simply dead-ended before reaching its destination which just happened not to be your house.

Long story short, registering the item was probably a waste of money and rather than offering the item more security, it may have attracted thieves to it.

I wonder what the seller used for a declared value? I know we've discussed the rather arbitrary US$400 limit on declared value for First Class International items before. I have no idea why this limit is in place, but it does seem odd that an item valued at more than this amount has gone astray. Perhaps the item ended up here?

Just out of curiosity, do many of your purchases from the U.S. pass through St. Laurent or is this an unusual point of entry for something you've ordered?

i*m-still-here · ‎10-20-2013

The seller told me that she had declared as an old used item with a modest value so it wouldn't look tempting.

I didn't know that until a couple of days ago.

I don't know where my items enter Canada as I've never had cause to track one prior to this.

I'm not sure why you ask, but I was told that items can enter Canada anywhere and it has nothing to do with where the item was shipped from or to.

The new seller........ if he is telling the truth.......... said he bought it at an auction. I have no idea what kind of auction that was.

If it was a postal auction then that's equally as problematic as theft.

If there was a problem why wasn't it returned to the shipper?

52 days from the date of shipping to a new appearance on eBay. Bing-Bang-Boom!

Live Auction items have to be itemized and that takes time.......... and then sold at a future date and they wait until they have a full load.......... and then the re-seller has to take pictures.

He probably did an eBay search and copied the item description.

All that takes time.

I don't think the PO even allows a trace before day 30-45. (not sure which).

In short........ if the auction was a Postal auction then that's no less of a problem than theft.

Truth is, I only have theories and I'll never know what happened.

marnotom! · ‎10-20-2013

@i*m-still-here wrote:

I don't know where my items enter Canada as I've never had cause to track one prior to this.
I'm not sure why you ask, but I was told that items can enter Canada anywhere and it has nothing to do with where the item was shipped from or to.

There are only a handful of Canada Border Services Mail Centres (CMCs) where items get processed "through customs". From http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d5/d5-1-1-eng.html#_a6 :

Upon arrival in Canada, the mail remains under the control of the foreign postal administration until it is “exchanged” with Canada Post. Canada Post receives the mail at its international mail exchange office where it is sorted for movement within Canada. International mail is then directed to one of the three CMCs located in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montréal for CBSA processing. Ottawa, Hamilton, Winnipeg, and Calgary are authorized to receive certain letter mail.

I'm just wondering if it made sense from a transit perspective for your item to go through St. Laurent or if it appears to be way off course, perhaps intended for a different destination.

i*m-still-here · ‎10-20-2013

I wish I could change the title because this was not insurance fraud.

It seemed like it was at first, but as it unfolded it became clear that's the last thing it is.

The article below states "Our policy is that we keep things in our system for up to seven months to try and connect with the addressee or the sender," said John Caines.

In my case it was up for sale on eBay in less than two months which would have meant that the PO had it at auction within a month of receiving it .......... if it was sold that way.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-man-finds-his-lost-mailed-albums-on-ebay-1.1147751

marnotom! · ‎10-20-2013

I*m, eBay suggests to me that you live in BC, as I do. To me, it seems a bit odd but not necessarily out of the ordinary that your item was processed in Montreal. Most of the items I get from the United States are processed in Vancouver. Does the seller live close to Montreal?

What I'm getting at is that I'm wondering if, for whatever reason--deliberate or accidental--the item was sent to a different address.

i*m-still-here · ‎10-20-2013

Sent to a different address??? Very unlikely and that would be very low on my list of possibilities.

I did ask why it was being processed in Montreal during my first call to the PO because it seemed odd, and that's when they told me that port of entry has no significance.

Everyone I spoke with was completely puzzled about the way the tracking showed up, but that was the end of it.

The customs official in Montreal gave me his private number which he rarely gives out.

He was clearly very concerned.

Nothing ever came of it.

In other words, from my first call onward everyone I spoke with saw that something was wrong.

The next thing I knew it was for sale on eBay.

marnotom! · ‎10-20-2013

@i*m-still-here wrote:

Sent to a different address??? Very unlikely and that would be very low on my list of possibilities.

Well, I'm pretty much brainstorming at this point and in the brainstorming process one may get odd ideas that lead to better ones.

You haven't yet told me if the seller is located close to Montreal.